Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

Surveillance footage captures a suspicious black sedan that a San Jose girl said followed her home Monday. (June 6, 2017)

A seventh-grade girl in the South Bay was back at school Tuesday, a day after a suspicious person may have been following her as she walked through her neighborhood.

Surveillance cameras caught footage of what San Jose police are calling a suspicious circumstance. The video shows a Piedmont Middle School student on her cellphone, calling her mother to tell her the driver of a nearby car was following her.

"He followed me halfway, then parked his car and didn’t stop staring at me," the student, which NBC Bay Area is not naming, said. "Opens his window and started reaching for something on the side of his seat."

Neighborhood surveillance footage showed the frightening moments, and the student's father had a stern warning for the suspicious driver: He messed with the wrong neighborhood.

"Yeah, I would say think twice about coming here for sure," Carlos Quezada said about the driver.

Neighbors have banded together to fortify the area with cameras on streetlights, warning signs and vigilant neighbors who immediately got on the Nextdoor app to spread the word while checking their own surveillance video for a better look at the car.

Fighting back tears, the girl's mother said she was at the grocery store and wanted to jump through the phone to help her daughter when she got the call.

"She was really scared," Teresa Quezada said. "She can understand a little more dangerous to be outside."

Carlos Quezada said he had a talk with his 13-year-old about what she can do if there is a next time.

"You have a cellphone; take a picture of the license plate. Pretend you’re on the phone and record what’s going on. Do Facetime Live if you have to so everyone can see what’s going on," he said he told his daughter. "It's really good having a conversation with your kid."